1998 Football League Second Division play-off Final

1998 Football League Second Division play-off final
Grimsby Town Northampton Town
1 0
Date 24 May 1998
Venue Wembley Stadium, London
Referee T Heilbron
Attendance 62,988

The 1998 Football League Second Division play-off Final was a football match played at Wembley Stadium, London on 24 May 1998 at the end of the 1997–98 season. The match determined the third and final team to gain promotion from Second Division to the First Division, and was contested by Grimsby Town, who finished 3rd during the league season, and Northampton Town, who finished 4th. The teams reached the final by defeating Fulham and Bristol Rovers respectively in the two-legged semi-finals.

Grimsby won the final 1-0 thanks to a goal from Kevin Donovan in the 20th minute to seal their place in the second tier of English football.[1][2] Grimsby had to wait 120 years to reach Wembley and before this game had won the Auto Windscreens Shield earlier on in the season.

Route to the final

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
3Grimsby Town 461915125537+1872
4Northampton Town 461817115237+1571
5Bristol Rovers 462010167064+670
6Fulham 462010166043+1770

Semi-finals

First leg

9 May 1998
15:00
Fulham 1 – 1 Grimsby Town
Beardsley  45' (pen) Report Smith  53'
Craven Cottage, London
Attendance: 13,954
Referee: Terry Heilbron

10 May 1998
15:00
Bristol Rovers 3 – 1 Northampton Town
Beadle  30' (pen.)
Bennett  37'
Hayles  46' 		Report Gayle  74'
Memorial Ground, Bristol
Attendance: 9,173
Referee: Rob Harris
Second leg

13 May 1998
19:45
Grimsby Town 1 – 0 Fulham
Donovan  81' Report
Blundell Park, Cleethorpes
Attendance: 8,689
Referee: Clive Wilkes

Grimsby Town won 2–1 on aggregate.

13 May 1998
19:45
Northampton Town 3 – 0 Bristol Rovers
Heggs  34'
Clarkson  61'
Warburton  77' 		Report
Sixfields Stadium, Northampton
Attendance: 7,501
Referee: Mick Fletcher

Northampton Town won 4–3 on aggregate.

Match details

Grimsby Town:
GK Northern Ireland Aidan Davison
DF England John McDermott
DF England Tony Gallimore
DF England Mark Lever
DF Scotland Peter Handyside
MF England Wayne Burnett
MF England Paul Groves
MF England Kevin Donovan
MF England David Smith  66'
FW England Jack Lester
FW Wales Lee Nogan  60'
Substitutes:
MF England Kevin Jobling
MF Northern Ireland Kingsley Black  66'
FW England Steve Livingstone  60'
Manager:
England Alan Buckley
Northampton Town:
GK England Andy Woodman
DF England Ian Clarkson
DF England John Frain
DF Northern Ireland Colin Hill  60'
DF England Ian Sampson
DF England Ray Warburton
MF England Dean Peer  100'
MF England James Hunt
FW England John Gayle  56'
FW England Chris Freestone
FW England Carl Heggs
Substitutes:
MF England Jason Dozzell
MF England Ali Gibb  60'
FW Australia David Seal  56'
Manager:
England Ian Atkins

MATCH RULES

  • 90 minutes.
  • 30 minutes of extra-time if necessary.
  • Penalty shootout if scores still level.
  • Maximum of 3 substitutions.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Soccerbase football statistics". Soccer Base. Retrieved 2013-11-15.
  2. ↑ "Grimsby bounce back to Division 1". BBC News. 1998-05-24. Retrieved 2013-11-15.

External links

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